Monument record TQ 93 SE 103 - V1 missile crash site, Lord's Wood, Orlestone

On 3 August 1944, a V-1 flying-bomb was shot down by Flight Lieutenants Green and Kleimeyer of 129 Squadron over Lord’s Wood, Orlestone, Kent. The bomb exploded on contact with the tree canopy, creating a shallow crater but causing no casualties. Archival records, including the Kent War Diary and RAF Operations Record Book, confirm the event, and post-war aerial photography and Lidar show the impact site.

The methodology for investigating the Lord’s Wood V-1 site focused on confirming and analyzing the suspected WWII flying-bomb impact. On 26 April 2021, the team conducted a landscape assessment, measured the shallow crater (3.77m x 3.8m x 0.42m), and used a magnetometer and metal detector to identify metallic remains. Six V-1 fragments were recovered from the topsoil, and 17 additional metallic signals were recorded with GPS. (1)

<1> Research Resource Archaeology, 2021, V1 Lord's Wood, Orlestone, Kent: initial survey report (Unpublished document). SKE57422.